Mass Effect: My Ending
Shepard slowly opened his eyes and vaguely recalled being blasted with a reaper attack. He managed to get to a sitting position and looked at himself, his armor was destroyed and pieces of it were barely holding in place on his body, his shields were overloaded and completely shot. Also, his omni-tool was busted likely beyond repair and a quick attempt of his biotics gave a tremendous pressure in his head, the implant was likely dislodged. His right leg was twisted and burning with pain and he wasn't sure if the blood from his mouth was from losing some teeth or something internal. He scanned the area and found a Carnifax pistol, grabbed it and made his way to his feet. Once standing he began to slowly limp his way toward the beam. Ahead of him a husk came rushing forward, on pure instinct Shepard went for a charge and was overcome with pure crippling pain and pressure all over his body and was once again on the ground. Through the haze and dizziness he felt, he distantly heard an Avenger firing on full auto. He looked up and saw Anderson standing over him, a little bruised and banged up, but firing at the husk and taking it down.
Anderson hoisted Shepard up and moved him over behind a down Hammerhead. "Shepard, how bad is it?" Anderson asked.
Shepard groaned and answered, "Not sure my whole body hurts and my omni-tool is busted so I can't apply medi-gel or even run a diagnostic."
At that Andersons omni-tool flashed to light and Shepard suddenly felt a lot, if not completely, better. But, the look on Andersons face made Shepard uneasy. "How bad?' Shepard asked.
"I'm surprised you're even alive. Massive internal bleeding, head trauma, your left arm is covered in burns of varying degrees, and your right leg is broken in two spots. You're not going anywhere." Anderson answered.
"Like hell, we're in this together Anderson! Help me up and we'll…." Shepards rebuttal was cut off by Anderson putting pressure on Shepards leg.
"Just proving a point." Anderson said then standing up, he looked at the beam then back at Shepard. "You've done more than enough, Shepard. It's my turn now, I'll end this." With that Anderson injected a fresh thermal clip and began walking forward.
"Anderson? Anderson!" Shepard called, he paused and turned, "Shepard, I've actually always thought of you as a son to me. So, let me do as a father does, let me save my son. You make it out of here and start a family with Ashley. Just do me a favor, name your first son after me." And with a smile and a few tears Anderson rushed forward into the beam and he was gone.
Shepard looked out at the beam, then he heard foot steps behind him, he turned and brought his pistol up. He found it was Cortez moving towards him, "Shepard! I was flying over looking for survivors and saw Anderson move you over here. The shuttles just a few yards out. Let's get you outta here." Cortez got Shepards arm over his neck and got him up and made their way to the shuttle. There were two more in the shuttle a Krogan with multiple cuts and bullet wounds being tended to by a turian. .
After what seemed like hours the shuttle docked with the Normandy, as soon as the doors opened medics swarmed in getting Shepard onto a stretcher and assisting in moving the wounded krogan. They rushed Shepard up the med bay and Dr. Chakwas immediately began working on Shepard. "Commander, I'm going to have to put you under so I can repair your internal injuries." Everything for Shepard suddenly began to fade, before complete darkness Shepard heard Ashley's voice, "Shepard, its ok! I'm here!"
Shepard woke and found he was lying down in a grassy field, there was a sense of complete calm. After a moment Shepard suddenly recognized the area as the field just outside of Mindoir where he and his friends use to go. "Hey, Shepard!" He turned and found Kaiden walking towards him.
"Kaiden? If you're here then, am I dead?" Shepard asked.
Kaiden gave a smile and chuckled, "No, Shepard, not dead. Think of this as a brief reprieve. I thought it would be a good chance to talk and I thought the scenery would be nice."
Shepard looked around again and said, "I haven't been back since the Alliance picked me up. I wonder if this field is still there. They always talked about expanding the colonies out there. I used to come here every day with my friends. We'd play baseball, football, or just run around till dark. Then when I got older we would come out here just to dodge the parents while we drank or made out or, you know other stuff."
"Huh, never took you for a rule breaker, Shepard. We don't have a lot of time, so I'll say what I came here for, then let you get back to it." Kaiden said.
Shepard looked at Kaiden, "Sounds serious, Kaiden. Everything alright?"
He chuckled again, "I'm fine Shepard, being dead isn't that bad. I'm with my grandfather again and a few friends have come in the past few years. But, it's you I'm worried about. You still blame yourself for Virmire, you feel like you abandoned me there. You didn't, I told you to go for Ashley, and I'm the one who made that call Shepard. I chose to stay and take out that facility, and that was my call, Shepard."
"But, it was me who let you make that call. I could have come and gotten you out of there after Ash was safe but I didn't. I could have…" Shepard started, but was cut off.
"Stop, Shepard. You have got to stop. You did everything right that day, and I'm damn proud to have served with you. If given the chance I'd do it all over again with the same decisions and wouldn't regret a moment of it." Kaiden looked up at the sky which was slowly turning a light purple as the sun was setting. "Hmm, times almost up. You ready to get back to it, Commander? Shepard, stop blaming yourself, I never did. And for the love of God Shepard, start having some fun!"
Everything went black, then Shepard awoke in his bed in his quarters on the Normady. He tried to sit up but was stopped by a soft hand pressing on his chest, "Not so fast Shepard. You're under bed rest until Chakwas says otherwise." Ashley stated and planting a light kiss on Shepards lips, "So glad you're alright."
Shepard looked over at Ashley; she was wearing shorts and an alliance tank top and saw the extent of her injuries. A small but nasty bruise over her left eye brow, a small cut on her lower lip, a few cuts on her neck and shoulders, and her right hand was heavily taped. Also she had several thick bandages on her right forearm and stitches. Her legs were covered with small cut and bruises; and few more thick bandages here and there. He smiled at her then asked, "Are you alright, Ash?"
She smiled, "Chakwas assures me I'll be fine not nearly as bad as you thought. And before you ask; yes you're ok, Chakwas stopped all the internal bleeding, set the bones in your leg, reduced the swelling of the burns then warped them, and your biotic implant was repaired. Aside from some cuts, bumps and bruises you're gonna be fine. Looks like I'm going to be stuck with you for a while." Shepard gave a light chuckle and laid his head, "How did we do?"
Ashley took a breath, "Well, from what we gathered the Reapers have been destroyed every report says there was a red shock wave and all the Reapers and their forces are gone. Like there were just vaporized. That's what we're hearing from every planet throughout the galaxy. The relays are damaged but repairable, the Citadel is mostly intact it's going to need some serious work. They've already found thousands of survivors, Captain Bailey and C-Sec did one hell of a job protecting the civilians there. They also found Anderson, Shepard I'm sorry, he didn't make it."
Shepard nodded, "I kind of figured that. Right before he ran for the beam, he had that look in his eyes, like he was going to die and was fine with it. You know he told me something right before he left."
"What was it?" Ashley asked leaning forward.
"He told me to start a family with you. He also asked that we name our first son after him." Shepard said with a small smile.
Ashley blinked away a few tears and smiled, "Start a family with me? I like the sound of that, and 'our son' I like that part too. Is that what you want Shepard?"
Shepard reached out with his unwounded arm and took Ashleys taped hand, "More than anything else." Without another word Ashley leaned in and kissed Shepard who responded as best he could given his condition. The kiss lasted several moments then they parted at the same time and just stared into each other's eyes for a time.
After a few blissfully silent moments Ashley spoke, "So, umm, there are a few more things to report. After the Crucible fired, Joker was forced to do an emergency landing, the sensors were out, no idea where but we've sent out an SOS and the Destiny Ascension is on its way to assist with repairs. I've been going over the casualties, seems like all our friends made it, EDI went off line for a few hours but she's back online and her mech is back in line as well. Oh, and Wrex sent a message, it read, 'tell Shepard to get his ass better soon, we've got a celebration to attend!'" Ashley let out a little laugh and looked at Shepard.
"Ash, it's over. It's finally over!" Shepard leaned up as far as Ashley let him and smiled, "You know Ash, we could have a little celebration now."
Ashley laughed but slid into the bed next to Shepard and very carefully had a celebration.
Three days later all repairs had been made on the Normandy, but there was something that needed to be done before anything else. Everyone gathered in front of the Memorial Wall of the Normandy. Shepard while slightly assisted by Ashley placed Admiral Andersons name upon the wall. Then everyone present; Shepard, Ashley, Vega, Garrus, Tali, Liara, EDI, Joker, Javik, Cortez, Adams, Daniels, Donneley, and Chakwas gave a salute then all raised a glass to honor the man who saved them all by destroying the Reapers.